Award for Best New/Original Play at the Speakies

So I won. Restless Dreams won the award for Best New Play at the inaugural British Audio Awards. The judges said:

marking the centenary of Franz Kafka's death, Dan Rebellato's Restless Dreams is an appropriately disconcerting audio drama following Max Brod as he smuggles the great writer's work out of Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia on an impossible train. Dramatically thrilling, surreally funny, historically fascinating and philosophically compelling

I was slightly shocked when they read my name out so I know I made it to the stage but I’m not at all sure what I said when I got there. But I’m delighted.

And in fact one of my shows won another award. Our Mutual Friend won the award for Best Ensemble and so Henry Goodman, Delilah Tahiri, Polly Thomas, Bettrys Jones, Dan Rebellato, Sule Rimi, Lucy Speed, and Jeremy Ang Jones stumbled onto the stage before, delightfully, realising none of them had prepared anything to say. I actually had a couple of lines in Our Mutual Friend so, as well as giving them the words to say, I am technically part of the ensemble, so I think I get to keep the award for around 14 seconds a year. I was tickled to see me and Charles Dickens credited equally (see pic).

There were only two audio playwriting awards, the one I won for best original play, and Best Adaptation, in which Our Mutual Friend lost out — quite rightly — to Gatsby in Harlem, by the amazing Roy Williams. And here are the two winners: fine figures of men, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Roy Williams and me. Photo: Roy Williams